I recently sat down with my good friend and frequent podcast guest Simon Freeman, the co-founder and publisher of my favorite running magazine, Like The Wind, for our final quarterly conversation of 2025, which you can listen to wherever you get the morning shakeout podcast. An excerpt of this exchange can be found in Issue #47 of LtW, which comes …

Mario Fraioli joins host Francesco Puppi for an honest and thought-provoking conversation about the modern state of running — from content overload and algorithm fatigue, to what it really means to “go one more.” They dive deep into the balance between performance and storytelling, the illusion of social media success, and why learning to go one le…

Dylan Walker joins host Francesco Puppi for an honest and inspiring conversation about what it really takes to transform your life through running — from starting at 240 lbs with no plan or fitness, to completing ultras, crossing the Alps in the Transalpine Run, and preparing for his first 100-mile race. They dive into the realities behind long-ter…

Vert.run co-founders Moi Jiménez and Max Keith join host Francesco Puppi for a deep conversation on the evolving trail running scene in Latin America, the return of The North Face Endurance Challenge Chile, and the cultural roots that make South American trail running so unique. They dive into the growing presence of Latin American athletes on the …

South African trail running star Toni McCann joins host Francesco Puppi for an honest and vulnerable conversation about rediscovering her love for the sport, handling pressure after success, and what happens when winning doesn’t feel like winning. After dropping out of The Otter Trail with an ankle injury, Toni shares how that DNF unexpectedly remi…

Vert.run co-founder and coach Max Keith joins host Francesco Puppi for a wide-ranging conversation about the end of a long racing season—what recovery really means, how to avoid burnout, and why finishing strong sometimes means doing less. Fresh off his CCC win and top-10 finish at the World Championships, Francesco shares what it felt like to go f…

Thibo David is a personal trainer and coach based in London, who works with global stars in sport, business, and touring musicians. Most famously, he has been working with pop star Harry Styles, who surprised both the running (and non-running!) world a few weeks ago in the Berlin Marathon, posting a hugely impressive sub-3 marathon in only his seco…

Psychologist and elite trail runner Eva-Maria Sperger joins host Francesco Puppi for a candid conversation about the mental side of performance—self-compassion, motivation, and racing with vulnerability—just ahead of the World Championships in Canfranc-Pirineos. Eva explains why naming emotions builds real toughness, how to balance “listen to your …

We sit down with Francesco for a clear CCC recap: pacing the early climbs without forcing, the move after Champex-Lac, fast aid-station execution, and his fueling plan (~90–100 g carbs/h with a structured caffeine strategy). Then we look ahead to the World Championships and whether to accept a tempting Western States Golden Ticket. We also share wh…

A one off special collaboration between ‘The Slice of Pie’ Psychology podcast and The Focused Mind. Host of SOP, Pete Jackson, interviews Endurance Mind Coaching founder, Stu Holliday, about his unique Endurance Mind management programme for runners, cyclists, and triathletes, called ‘The Unbreakable Athlete.’ Pete delves into to ask: What is the p…

I recently sat down with my good friend and frequent podcast guest Simon Freeman, the co-founder and publisher of my favorite running magazine, Like The Wind, for our third quarterly conversation of 2025, which you can listen to wherever you get the morning shakeout podcast. An excerpt of this exchange can be found in Issue #46 of LtW, which comes …

Francesco catches up with Max to debrief a packed couple of weeks: the HOKA training camp, a fast-and-furious Sierre-Zinal, and the final touches before Francesco’s CCC debut at UTMB. We get into all the nuances. We cover: Key takeaways from camp: how fun it is to meet teammates, train together, and connect with folks across the brand—plus a great …

Endurance Mind Coaching Founder, Stu Holliday, talks with Fraser MacDonald Oulds again, about the mental capacity that endurance athletes build not just in terms of physical, but also psychologically during build phases. We discuss practices that free up space, such as limiting social media, as well as growing capacity through emotional flexibility…

Endurance Mind Coaching Founder, Stu Holliday, talks with athlete, Fraser MacDonald Oulds again, about the mindset shift that has to occur when an athlete gets injured and needs to mentally pivot to rehabbing. As a Sport and Exercise Psychologist, sadly injury is an occupational hazard, but we can help athletes get favourable outcomes, expedited by…

Rosemary Mitchell is a 62-year-old ultrarunner whose story with the Comrades Marathon is as powerful as the race itself. In this episode, I had the honor of sitting down with Rosemary for a heartfelt and inspiring conversation about endurance, tradition, and what it truly means to run with purpose. We explored her personal journey—how challenges an…

Endurance Mind Coaching Founder, Stu Holliday, talks with all round athlete, Fraser MacDonald Oulds, about how he has cultivated mindset shifts associated with improving his performance across his swimming, water polo, and running. Within running, from track and road transitioning more to hill, fell, and ultra distances.…

Steve Hobbs (of The Milestone Pursuit run coaching company), speaks to Stu (Founder of Endurance Mind Coaching) about the benefits and things to learn about goalsetting, whatever level of endurance athlete you are.

Max Keith is a trail runner, coach, and cofounder of Vert.run—and someone who’s been shaping the sport from both the frontlines and behind the scenes. In this episode, I had the chance to sit down with Max for a deep and honest conversation about racing, coaching, and the evolution of trail running today. We reflected on the emotional highs and low…

Ken Seals is a trail runner, storyteller, and the creator of The Ultra Minute, a newsletter and media platform that covers the evolving world of trail and ultra running. I was a guest on Ken’s platform to dive deep into the state of running media today—and we had such a rich conversation that it felt like a necessary one to share. We talked about h…

Paul Benney describes himself as having spent 30 years at the coalface of music, media, and acid house. If you’re into electronic music, you’ll likely know his work as a co-founder of seminal 90s magazine Jockey Slut and its associated club night, Bugged Out!, which began in Manchester 30 years ago. Since then, Bugged Out! has held residencies in L…

Ryan Morley is a cycling coach, bike fitter, data analyst,and former RAF serviceman. Ryan began his racing career in time trials at the age of 15 and entered the world of road and criterium racing shortly after. As a junior, Ryan raced extensively, competing for the Welsh national team. Having worked within the cycling industry for several years,he…

In this episode, Katie Asmuth—elite ultrarunner and Western States finisher—joins Francesco to reflect on the emotional highs and lows of racing, recovery, and personal growth in the sport of trail running. They explore Katie’s connection to Western States, the identity challenges athletes face, and how she balances motherhood with high-level train…

This week on the podcast I sit down with my right-hand man Chris Douglas to discuss the history of the morning shakeout email newsletter, which just celebrated its 500th issue. It's been published every Tuesday since November 17, 2015. This episode is brought to you by: — Tracksmith, New Balance, Precision Fuel & Hydration, and Final Surge. All of …

In this episode, Kameron Harder—physical therapist and strength training expert—joins Francesco to dive into the world of strength training for runners. They explore why strength training is essential for trail and road runners, how to structure it efficiently, and common mistakes to avoid. Kameron also shares insights from his work in remote physi…

I recently sat down with my good friend and frequent podcast guest Simon Freeman, the co-founder and publisher of my favorite running magazine, Like The Wind, for our second quarterly conversation of 2025, which you can listen to wherever you get the morning shakeout podcast. An excerpt of this exchange can be found in Issue #45 of LtW, which comes…

🎙️ In this episode, Max & Moi sit down with Francesco to dive into the state of running and trail running coaching apps—and introduce Vert Pro, the first fully automated coach built specifically for trail runners of all levels. They break down how Vert Pro works, why it’s shaking up the coaching game, and how Vert.run is leading the way in innovati…

This week on the podcast I sit down with my right-hand man Chris Douglas and answer reader and listener questions about dream podcast guests, training ideas I have and haven’t changed my mind about, the impact of AI on coaching, best mindset practices for training and racing, and a lot more. There’s even a good rant from me on running while sick/in…

I had the pleasure and privilege to share three weeks of altitude training in Mammoth Lakes with Rod, seeing his hard work, commitment and self believe, learning a lot from him. It’s been roughly a year since Rod Farvard's name really came into the spotlight. Rod definitely had a breakthrough season in 2024, with the win at Canyons and the second p…

What’s Coming in Trail Running in 2025? Clearly, 2025 is shaping up to be an exciting year for trail running. In this episode we examine the key races and their storylines, athletes to watch, new trends and predictions, strategies and advancements in performance. Guest: Max Keith For those of you who want to give training with Vert.run a try, you c…

This is the first episode of a mini series on the Focused Mind Podcast that talks to high performers across the music business who talk about their life, mindset, and skills they've developed to have long careers. We look at what individuals have done to look after themselves and what they'd consider helpful for working in the industry in the curre…

Sebastian Junger is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Perfect Storm, Fire, A Death in Belmont, War, Tribe, Freedom, and In My Time of Dying, as well as an award-winning journalist, documentary filmmaker, and, perhaps most impressively, highly accomplished distance runner. A collegiate athlete at Wesleyan University in the early 1980s,…

In Part 2 of our conversation with None to Run founder Mark Kennedy, he goes deeper into the mindset, mission, and meaning behind helping beginners become lifelong runners. Part 2 is for beginner runners who need a reminder that progress takes time — and that every running journey is unique. It’s also for anyone curious about the heart behind None …

In this episode (Part 1 of 2), Mark Kennedy, the founder of None to Run, shares how his lifelong love of sports led him to create one of the most supportive running apps and communities for beginners. Mark opens up about: His transition from a corporate career to entrepreneurship The inspiration behind the None to Run app Why understanding your aud…

Florian Reiter is a runner, coach, podcaster and physiotherapist from Austria. I was a guest in Florian’s podcast Running Free and it was a great chance to touch on many relevant topics related to running, so we thought it would be fun to do a follow-up episode, and here we are. We talked about the reasons why we run, how these reasons change over …

Mario Fraioli is the host of The Morning Shakeout podcast and the author of the weekly newsletter of the same name. As well as these well-known endeavours, he spends the majority of his work as a full-time endurance running coach. In this episode, timed to drop a month prior to a number of major marathon races Worldwide, FMC podcast host Stu Hollid…

Josh Wade is a professional trail runner for The North Face coming from England. Josh took third at the Transgrancanaria Classic this year, running an incredible race and surpassing all his expectations. In this episode we go into the details of Josh’s race, from how he managed his strategy to how he handled the preparation leading up to it. We als…

I recently sat down with my good friend and frequent podcast guest Simon Freeman, the co-founder, editor, and publisher of my favorite running magazine, Like The Wind, for our first quarterly conversation of 2025, which you can listen to wherever you get the morning shakeout podcast. An excerpt of this exchange can be found in Issue #44 of LtW, whi…

Today I’m sitting down with Max Keith to share some reflections as we approach the core of the 2025 season, which kicked off in big fashion with races like Black Canyon, Tarawera and Transgrancanaria. Athletes are racing as fast as ever, races are getting more competitive, brands are investing more and more, participation in trail races is increasi…

Dakota Jones is a professional trail runner for Nnormal living in Salt Lake City. Dakota is also the founder and executive director ofFootprints Running, a non profit organization with the mission to support climate action at the community level by bringing people together around their shared interest in trail running. In two days, Dakota is attemp…

Allison Lynch is a writer, artist, competitive runner and sports marketing professional. Allison has 12 years of experience in brand marketing and communications, specializing in sports technology, running, and fitness. She’s worked for companies like WHOOP and COROS. I was inspired to invite Allison on this podcast after discovering her work and t…

Ben Rosario has worn a lot of hats in the sport and industry of running: professional athlete and two-time U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon qualifier, co-founder of the Big River Running Company, race director, elite athlete coordinator, marketing director, author, and, most recently, founder, head coach, and director of HOKA Northern Arizona Elite. In…

Adina Crawford is a trail runner from the US and a Vert.run explore athlete. Adina is a passionate runner whose goal is, like many other athletes that we coach, to run longer, faster and stronger while having fun in the process. In this episode we talk about being a trail runner from an underrepresented community in our sport, a memorable trip to t…

Andy Wacker is a professional trail runner for Salomon living in Colorado. Two years ago Andy founded The Trail Team, a project with the mission to independently support and develop rising athletes into the best professional trail runners in the world through mentorship, skill development, and media exposure. We caught up with Andy to see how the p…

Zach Miller is a professional trail runner for The North Face living in the United States. We caught up on a number of things happening in our sport right now, some future evolutions, then his current training, future plans for 2025 and much more. Enjoy! PLEASE SHARE THIS EPISODE WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND ON SOCIAL MEDIA IF YOU ENJOYED IT! ____________…

Tim Tollefson is a professional trail runner for Craft living in Mammoth Lakes, California, and the race director of the Mammoth Trail Fest. In this episode with Tim, we talk about community, antidoping efforts, sponsorships and opportunities to run professionally, growth of the sport, circuits and Mammoth Trail Fest affiliation with the Golden Tra…

In this mini episode, Sport and Performance Psychologist Stu Holliday answers the question: Why should everyone know about the Valencia marathon? And the second question... and why should they care?! Whether you are a runner or not, this event is unique in the World of endurance sport and in the imaginations of the organisers. They put themselves i…

Roberto Delorenzi is a professional trail runner for Brooks coming from Switzerland. Roberto has had a stellar 2024 season, with 38 races and 17 wins including 4 Skyrunner World Series races plus the final and the overall ranking, one european mountain running championship, a third place at Marathon du Mont Blanc, a fifth place in 2:32 at Sierre Zi…

I recently sat down with my good friend and frequent podcast guest Simon Freeman, the co-founder, editor, and publisher of my favorite running magazine, Like The Wind, for our final quarterly conversation of 2024, which you can listen to wherever you get the morning shakeout podcast. An excerpt of this exchange can be found in Issue #43 of LtW, whi…

Lauren Gregory is a professional trail runner for Nike from Colorado, living on the East Coast and training with the Northswood Athletic team, under the guidance of coach Ben True - a true legend of distance running. Lauren is really, really fast, from the track to the trails: within one season, this year, she ran a 15:17 5000m on the track and she…

Eli Hemming is a professional runner for Adidas Terrex from Kremmling, Colorado. Eli is maybe my greatest competitor of this 2024: we shared the podium at OCC in Chamonix, where he was first and I was second, so I absolutely wanted to have him on the podcast at some point. We’re good friends in life and great enemies during competitions, and we bot…